In the midst of the raging storm, a ship steadily approached, entering the danger zone. Had it been a moment earlier, their actions would have been noticed, but now they wouldn’t be. The man had been thrown off by Lu Xi’s condition, and unsure of whether Lu Xi had regained his memory or not.
To say he was completely unafraid of Lu Xi wouldn’t be accurate. If he wasn’t afraid at all, he wouldn’t have gone to such lengths to plan this out. If he could have confronted Lu Xi directly, he would have done so, but he didn’t. To be safe, he chose to act when Lu Xi’s mind was muddled, rather than when he was fully conscious. This alone explained a lot.
Whatever connection there was between Lu Xi and him, only they knew. Perhaps it was a one-sided grudge. There were many such situations—I treat you as my enemy, but you don’t even notice me.
Li Shu didn’t know but he had guessed most of it correctly. Lu Xi had indeed never taken this person seriously.
Lu Xi’s current state wasn’t great. He had barely regained a bit of clarity, and his mind was still half in a haze. If it weren’t for Li Shu’s presence, he wouldn’t have recovered so easily.
To break free even a little was not easy; to fully escape this state was even harder.
He knew that every now and then he would fall into this state. He had suspected the cause but never found anything, so he let it go. Now it seemed his suspicions were correct—this was indeed man-made, or at least, there were traces of interference.
Given his nature, it was one thing if he didn’t know, but once he found out, those involved would not fare well. Moreover, he had nearly harmed Li Shu this time.
He could endure being manipulated and getting hurt himself, but if the same happened to Li Shu, he couldn’t bear it. Without realizing it, he had come to value Li Shu more than himself.
He knew all too well how terrifying he could be when he “went mad.” Over the years, every time he regained his senses, the surrounding seawater was dyed red with blood, and there was not a single survivor within a hundred miles. Even the subordinates who admired him on regular days didn’t dare to approach him then.
But this time, this time he and Li Shu were so close, he was really relieved that he hadn’t done anything unforgivable. Someone had to bear the brunt of this anger, and naturally, that man, who could be called the mastermind, would bear it all.
He didn’t let go of Li Shu. In such circumstances, it was safest to keep Li Shu close. He didn’t feel secure leaving him anywhere else.
“You’re actually awake,” the man regained his composure and continued walking forward. “That’s fine. Defeating you while you’re awake will let you watch as I take everything you care about, including this human. Don’t worry, I’ll treat him just as well as you did…”
With every step he took, the red mark on his forehead deepened. By the time he stopped, the vine-like mark had turned a vivid red, strangely alluring.
“Do you think that’s possible?” The words were spoken slowly, and the surrounding thunder seemed to echo the speaker.
Letting go of Li Shu was out of the question. The man thought he had found Lu Xi’s weakness, but he didn’t realize this was also the source of his strength.
Hatred can fuel one’s power, and so can the desire to protect. The latter might even be stronger than the former.
Li Shu’s presence had given Lu Xi a weak spot. If Li Shu were in the enemy’s hands, Lu Xi might be cautious, but Li Shu was behind him, and this, in turn, gave Lu Xi boundless strength. He could only succeed in this battle; for Li Shu’s sake, he had to succeed.
The strength that comes from protection is something that those who have never protected anything cannot understand. At that moment, they have already put their life and death aside. What they care about is the existence they need to protect behind them. Because of that existence, they will not allow themselves to fail.
Failure would bring consequences they couldn’t bear. The man thought Li Shu’s presence was Lu Xi’s weakness, but he hadn’t truly interacted with people. He didn’t understand that human emotions are complex—what is said and what is felt don’t always match. Weaknesses can become the opposite of what they seem.
Nothing is absolute. From the moment Li Shu appeared, the man’s plan was doomed to fail. Not for any other reason, but simply because Lu Xi would not allow him to succeed in order to protect Li Shu.
It was unclear who made the first move. Both of them could unleash their full power underwater, yet they chose to fight on this ship.
It was a battle of unnatural forces. Li Shu stood aside, protected by the power Lu Xi had left on him, ensuring he wouldn’t be harmed by the clash. The captain wasn’t so lucky; he could only dodge and hide, trying to avoid the terrifying power.
Li Shu slowly moved to the side, the protective barrier that Lu Xi left around him dissolved any attacks that came close. He carefully moved toward the captain.
Noticing his intention, the captain began moving toward him. Mortal bodies couldn’t withstand the power of these two, and even a stray bit of that power could cause irreversible damage.
Fortunately, the distance between them wasn’t far, and the captain quickly reached Li Shu’s side.
“Mr. Li, what’s going on? Is everyone in the cabin alright?”
“There shouldn’t be any life-threatening danger. Today’s events were aimed at Lu Xi, I’m sorry that you all got dragged into it.” Once he was sure the captain was safe from harm, Li Shu answered.
“That’s good to hear. Mr. Li, there’s no need to apologize. Going out to sea always comes with risks, and everyone was prepared for that. It’s just that this time the crisis is a bit unique.” The captain really didn’t blame anyone. He had been to various dangerous waters before, and each time he had gambled with his life. This time he was able to meet the much-talked-about merfolk, and an exciting battle scene. There was no regret for him.
He understood that what happened today was part of someone’s plan, and they were all victims. Now, he just hoped that Mr. Lu Xi could defeat the villain.
The deck was empty, with nowhere to hide. The two stood at the edge, fully exposed to the view of the two engaged in the battle.
Lu Xi occasionally glanced over, confirming that Li Shu was unharmed before quickly looking away. The other person had no such luxury, having to focus entirely on the duel to avoid falling behind.
He hadn’t expected Lu Xi to be this strong, far stronger than he had anticipated. At this rate, his defeat seemed inevitable, but how could he accept that? He had spent his entire life planning this, even losing the ability to transform back into his merman form for it. How could he be content with failure?
No matter what, the outcome this time could only be his victory.
A palm strike came his way, and he quickly snapped out of his thoughts, tilting his head just in time to avoid it. Lu Xi had already closed in, his tail sweeping towards him with immense force. Unable to dodge in time, he took the hit squarely.
With a loud crash, the man fell to the ground. The force was so great that it broke a large hole in the deck.
The man fell into the hole, and Lu Xi followed closely behind. Lu Xi clenched his fist and slammed it down with all his strength. At the critical moment, the man rolled to the side, narrowly avoiding the blow.
Such a powerful strike, if taken head-on without any defense, would be no laughing matter.
The two continued their fierce battle, neither holding back. This was a primal contest of strength, and instinctively, they both chose the most primitive way of fighting. This was not surprising—whether it was hunting or anything else, merfolk always relied on strength to solve everything.
Among the sirens, absolute power was revered. In the face of overwhelming strength, any schemes or tricks were useless. To become king or to replace the king, one had to defeat the king, or you wouldn’t receive the respect you deserved.
Since the man wanted to completely replace Lu Xi, he had to defeat him in this area. He had been confident, having prepared for so long and worked so hard, but now he wasn’t sure. Only after the real battle began could he truly feel how powerful the siren king was.
Once his psychological defenses began to crumble, defeat was not far behind.
Li Shu and the captain kept a close watch on the battle. The speed of the two fighters was incredible, and the raw power of their confrontation made it impossible to look away. After watching for a while, the captain asked uncertainly, “Is it okay for them to keep fighting like this?”
Not to mention anything else, but given the destructive power of these two, he wasn’t sure what would happen to them, but it would be easy enough for them to wreck the ship. If he hadn’t thoroughly inspected the ship’s various configurations before setting off, he wouldn’t have believed that it could be so easily damaged.
Goodness, this was supposed to be a rare metal developed this year, known for being lightweight yet tough, with excellent pressure resistance. But in front of these people, it was as fragile as paper, utterly unable to withstand a single blow.
He could see it now—these two were truly on a different level. The information he had gathered indirectly wasn’t exaggerated at all. While merfolk could share the same appearance as humans, they were fundamentally different on the inside. In front of merfolk, humans were truly no match.
No wonder the higher-ups had always been cautious about releasing information on merfolk. Just in terms of combat power alone, if there were ever a conflict between humans and merfolk, humans wouldn’t stand a chance.
Look at the ship—there were holes to the left and right, and those holes were terrifyingly large, nothing like what you’d expect from a punch.
Li Shu’s gaze stayed on the battlefield. Hearing the captain’s question, he pursed his lips and said, “It’s fine.”
“But, the ship…”
That the ship had lasted this long was truly a miracle.
“Don’t worry, someone is already coming to get us.” He had secretly instructed the system to transmit their location to the rescue team. The system couldn’t come out at the moment, but it could still handle small tasks.
A strange magnetic field was blocking the signal, but that was no problem for the system. If it could break through the world’s barriers, a little magnetic interference was nothing.
“Then…” The captain wanted to ask something, but after saying a word, he changed his mind and closed his mouth. He wanted to ask how Li Shu knew there was a rescue team coming when it was impossible to send out a signal. He had already tried that. There were many questions he wanted to ask, but now was clearly not the time to address them.
He couldn’t help with the battle, so he shifted his gaze from the fierce fight to Li Shu.
He had accepted everything that was happening because he had experienced all sorts of strange things before. But what about Li Shu?
This rich young master hadn’t shown a hint of fear in the face of all this.
